Essay
SPECULATORS OF THE FINAL FRONTIER Comparing and contrasting seminal works by Jem Finer and Fei Disbrow
words by sunshine frère art by fei disbrow Looking at Finer’s and Disbrow’s works, time is activated in very different ways. When one encounters Finer’s piece, time is conceived beyond the personal life cycle. Finer’s otherworldly composition compels us to ponder metaphysical constructs of interstellar time—it forces an expansion in the mind. Time is drawn out. Disbrow’s work, on the other hand, has a visceral immediacy to it. Her work stops time, each piece implanting an instant and bold retinal impression. Disbrow synthesizes abstraction into a compelling singularity, a force to be reckoned with.
“ Time exists in order that everything doesn’t happen all at once... and space exists so that it doesn’t all happen to you.” susan sontag, At The Same Time: Essays and Speeches, 2007
It is only in recent years, thanks to quantum mechanics, that our perception of space and time has changed. Our hypothesized inception of the universe is based on an explosive first impression—the Big Bang theory—but 13.7 billion years later, we are still trying to comprehend this micro-instant. Fear not, for there are those who seek to understand the strangeness of time and space. Two such artists, United Kingdom-based Jem Finer and Vancouverbased Fei Disbrow, are adept at transplanting viewers and listeners into altered space-time realities. In the late ‘90s, Finer conceived of a piece of music that would play for 1,000 years. Longplayer exists as both art object and ongoing musical performance: its composition and its physical manifestation, both designed to work continuously for a millennium. Longplayer started at midnight on Dec. 31, 1999 in London, England. It has been playing for over 17 years now. One can tune in anytime online to hear the current ethereal phase as it unfolds.
Each collage in Eccentric Journeys is a confluence of time projected onto a twodimensional plane of infinite density—a singularity. Like the attack and decay of a musical note, first impressions of Disbrow’s work start with a sharp, loud bang, the colours and shapes vibrating voraciously. As the note decays, other layers become audible: texture, context, and concepts undulate ad infinitum. Finer’s work, however, impresses a feedback loop on the listener. For most who encounter Longplayer, it is introduced conceptually first. We become overwhelmingly lost in the conception of time as we once knew it, then we experience the esoteric singing bowl vibrations of the work, and are brought into a granular and embodied present.
Then there is Disbrow, whose Eccentric Journeys collage series is made from printed paper cuttings. A planetary aesthetic prevails in this work; groups of abstract texture, pattern, and colour form solid structures that emit bountiful ocular signals and hover above pristine backdrops of white space. The series invites viewers to circumnavigate the flat and multi-dimensional aspects of these arrangements.
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Expansion and contraction play a key role in interpreting both works, which toy with the notion of space in unique ways. Disbrow explores the void, her planetary entities stranded in isolation; like a languishing blue dwarf star that is light years away, each composition is its own spectacular swan song of magazine cuttings, an isolated and imaginative gesture of reconfiguration to dive into. When viewed in series, the works form a cloud of connective thought patterns, their existence intangible but visibly interconnected. Meanwhile, Finer’s work sends viewers inwards, directing them to the resonant frequency of their bodies in relation to other objects. Longplayer can be streamed live anywhere with an internet connection. Knowledge of this creates the opportunity for boundless universal experience, but it also comes with heavy existential introspection on time.
Both artists push the audience into a multidimensional universe. Brace yourself—time and space are indeed both happening, all at once.
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